Escaping Fate
by darksupernatural
Summary: Sequel to Ruby's Story. Picks up immediately after. Set S3, slightly AU. Dean and Sam run into some trouble and something bad happens at every turn. Hurt,limp,tortured Sam! Angsty, freaked out Dean. Will be updated nightly. PLEASE REVIEW! NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone. Some of you have been looking forward to this one. Its the sequel, as promised, to Ruby's Story. Picks up immediately after that and mentions many details revealed in that fic, both for Ruby and our favorite guys. If you haven't read that one you probably should. It will make this one easier to follow. Warnings for torture and angst to come in future chapters. This one is going to be updated nightly just like my last one. Enjoy and be sure to let me know what you think!  
**

**Escaping Fate**

**Chapter 1**

"_Watch out for Sammy, Dean…Sammy first no matter what…" The lamp cord tightened around Sam's neck… he fell to the floor struggling to stay alive…Sam, falling to his knees, a gasp in his voice and a grimace on his face…blood coating his back and Dean's hand. Sam's head lolling on his shoulders, his eyes sliding away from Dean's as they closed as if to say "I'm sorry, I'm not strong enough."_

_The silver orb hitting Sam in the forehead, the mercurial glow spreading to his eyes and changing them…silver…hazel for a time…silver…black…hazel…yellow._

"No, S-SAAMMM!" Dean sat upright on the bed with a choked scream. Sunlight was streaming through the drapes he'd been too tired to close last night shining yellow over his torso, which was sheened with a cold sweat. It hugged his skin like a clammy glove and made him cringe. His eyes darted wildly about the room before he finally realized he was in the motel Bobby had brought them back to after Sam's confrontation with the crossroads demon. Memories washed over him like an acid bath and he bolted from the rumpled bed, twisted covers catching at him, trying to hold him prisoner to that nightmare world he'd woken from. Dean panicked, and fought with the sheets tangled about his sweat covered legs, ripping them as he broke free. He fought like a madman against the memories had him in a choke hold, against the bile that had risen in his throat, to cut off his air supply, against the desperation he felt at being locked inside his head with the images he'd been thus far unable to escape.

He finally lurched free from the remainder of the tattered covers and rushed to the bathroom, not bothering to close the door. He fell hard to his knees, smacking them off the tile in front of the toilet and began retching. He expelled the contents of his stomach from the night before, more bile than anything, and kept heaving. The heaves didn't stop even as the tears flowed, images assaulting Dean in their continued intensity.

_Sam…stabbed, his blood coating Dean's hand. Sam… silver eyed and roaring with laughter, black eyed and holding lightening in the palm of his hand. Sam…hazel eyed with tears shining in them. Sam's eyes going silver, fading to darkest black. Sam's eyes turning yellow, that hated, hated shade of yellow._

Dean threw up again, choking on a sob. When he finally felt he could move away he flushed the mess and collapsed, sobs tearing vicious holes in him as he lay on the bathroom tile. Dean curled into a fetal position on his right side, facing the bathroom door. He ground both palms into his eyes hard, hoping…praying that it would blur the images, make them stop. Instead they became sharper, more distinct. Dean sobbed brokenly and began rocking softly back and forth on his right shoulder, not caring that he was freezing. Not caring that Sam should be in the other bed in the vacant room and wasn't or that Dean himself looked like a three year old throwing a tantrum. Dean was beyond broken.

Vaguely he heard the motel room door open and just couldn't bring himself to care. A figure walked up to him that he could sense but couldn't see since he had his hands over his eyes, trying to push his eyeballs out the back of his head to stop the nightmare images. He felt the person sink to their knees almost silently, except for the pop of joints, and reach for him. Dean flinched from the touch on his t-shirt clad shoulder.

Bobby reached out and gripped him tighter. "Aw, Dean." He said quietly. Dean flinched again. "Hey, it's okay. Dean c'mon, kid. What's goin' on?" He reached for both of Dean's shoulders and hauled the non-resisting form upright. Dean sagged into him as Bobby held him up. Dean was sobbing and shaking, his eyes rubbed red and bloodshot. Bobby folded the oldest Winchester into his arms. Dean wrapped one arm around Bobby's middle and fisted his hand in the back of his old friend's flannel shirt, which smelled comfortingly of grease and gunpowder. "What's goin on?"

"B-bobby, I… nightmare. I-I…Sammy. W-where's Sam?"

"He went to get us breakfast. I went after my truck. You were sleepin'…figured you'd be okay. C'mon Dean, let's get you back to the bed. You're freezin'."

"Y-yeah, okay." Dean turned and shakily made his way back to the bed with Bobby steadying him. Dean flopped down on the bed and threw a hand over his eyes when the sunlight filtering through the uncovered window blinded his sensitive eyes and made him feel like they were on fire. Bobby quickly pulled the drapes and went back to Dean's side. He pulled Dean's arm away from his face and Dean blinked, his eyes watering severely from the pressure that he had on them for so long. He blinked repeatedly, trying to ease the burn and return his vision to normal. It wasn't working.

"Hang on a sec, Dean. I'll get something to take the sting out." Dean watched Bobby through badly blurry eyes while he went to the med kit and retrieved a soothing eye wash. He put some drops in Dean's eyes and Dean blinked several times, moving the lubricant around and clearing his vision.

"Thanks Bobby." Dean near whispered. "Bobby, you said Sam went for breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"He take my car?"

"Yeah."

"How long ago?"

Bobby glanced at his watch. "Half hour maybe."

Fear flared in Dean's eyes. "The diner is only two miles down the road. He should be back by now." Dean stood from the bed and hurried to change clothes. He grabbed his colt from his bag and stuffed it into the waistband of his jeans. He was still shaking but now it had nothing to do with the cold, or his dream. He ran at a dead clip for Bobby's truck and his sense of urgency soon spread to the older hunter. Bobby's concern for the boy, both boys, grew with Dean's near palpable fear. They pulled out of the motel parking lot, kicking up smoke as the tires spun on the pavement. Bobby hit the gas harder and they were soon pulling into the lot of the diner. Bobby killed the rumbling engine seconds after stopping beside the Impala with a screech of brakes. Dean got out, his every hunter instinct screaming at him. He slid a hand behind his back and up his shirt to grip the butt of his pistol, thumbing the safety off.

The Impala gleamed in the parking lot, early morning dew still glistening on the paint job. Dean looked in the window and saw that the doors were locked and the keys missing. He had his own set so Sam's were with him. _Please let him be okay._ Dean stalked silently up to the front of the diner and glanced at Bobby, who had came up beside him in a crouching run. They both stood straight, backs to solid brick as they peered inside the diner's front windows. Something inside caught Dean's eye and his stomach lurched. He cast a glance at the parking lot. There were nine cars besides the Impala. There should have been at least nine other people in the diner besides employees and Sam. Dean saw no movement. He nodded to Bobby and pulled the door open, drawing his gun at the same time. The chime of the doorbell rang loudly in the too silent diner. Dean was brought up short at a vulnerable position just inside the still open door. Inside the booth nearest him a man sat with his head resting on his breakfast plate. Blood dripped off the table and bench seat of the booth to pool on the floor around the man's feet and widen in an expanding puddle over the floor. Dean held his gun at the ready and pried his eyes away from the sight before him. He swung the gun around quickly checking every nook and booth. No Sam. He discovered thirteen bodies, the youngest being a toddler in a booster seat, sitting at the last booth in the diner with his young parents. Still no Sam.

Dean lowered his gun, heart beginning to race as thoughts crowded his mind._ Too damn much like what happened before Cold Oak. Can't happen again, it can't! Sammy, please be okay. Please man, be okay. I can't lose you, not again. _Dean lowered his gun. "Sammy?" He glanced outside to Bobby and shook his head. Bobby entered the diner cautiously, his eyes following the same path as Dean's, his normally gruff features softening as he laid eyes upon the toddler that would never grow up.

"Aw, shit."

"SAM!" Silence. "God, Bobby, not again. This is just how freakin' Yellow Eyes took Sam." _Not again. _Dean ran a hand over his mouth and then through his hair. "SSAAAAMMMM!" He screamed. Bobby jumped at the outburst, tears forming as he realized the terror that gripped Dean.

_They… Dean killed Yellow Eyes. It can't be him. Who the hell has the power to take him again? Who the hell wants that poor boy now?_ Bobby mused as he glanced at an agitated Dean who prowled around the diner.

Dean rounded a corner and came up against the coolers that housed food made in the diner. He gaped. The big stainless steel doors were smeared with red. Blood, it was blood. Dean's heart skipped a beat as he knew without a doubt that it was Sam's. The blood formed words that struck terror into this aching heart. "Bobby!" Bobby came around the corner at a sprint.

"Oh God."

The cooler doors read: _If you want him, come find him. We're having fun with our leader. Watch for the signs, we want you to find him…eventually._

Dean swallowed back bile. "Demons have him." He said as he looked away from the note scrawled in his brother's blood. Bobby's eyes were fixed to the bottom of the grotesque words. There was another word, a signature.

"Dean, Sam's not the only one they have."

"What?" Bobby pointed to the smaller word that Dean had ignored. Dean saw it.

"No!" At the bottom of the doors just under the large blood written words was another, a name. _Joshua._ Dean realized then that he knew the writing. A demon was possessing Joshua. And Joshua had Sam.

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to hit that little button! I'll see you again tomorrow evening.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's another chapter for everyone. This one is the start of some action. Blue Peanut M&M and Sammygirl1963, You have been great with all the reviews and support. This one is for you. Enjoy and I hope to hear from you soon! To everyone else who reviewed thank you so much! Keep hitting that button.**

**Chapter 2**

Sam woke to a world of pain. He opened the eye that would obey his mental commands and was immediately assaulted by a feeling of blindness. The room was pitch black and his head still exploded with pain. Heat radiated up his arm from what he could feel was a bad wound near his elbow. He could feel the dried blood caking his skin. He turned his head, tucking his chin to try and rub what he now knew to be blood from the eye that wouldn't open. He gasped as his shoulder ignited pain in a wound on his head. Sam tried to cry out, call out, speak, something, but nothing seemed to want to work properly. All that came out was a croak. He swallowed against the dry feeling in his throat and tried again.

"De…" He swallowed again and blinked, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the inky blackness. Feeling was coming back to him and he could now see outlines and shapes around him but that was all. He still had no clue where he was or who had him. He tried to sit up and found he couldn't move. Panic flared through him as he felt restriction at his wrists, neck and ankles. He was bound to the hard surface at his back by leather straps. _What the hell?_ He thought, trying to control the building fear in him. A chuckle sounded out in the darkness. He jumped, not even aware someone had been watching.

"Who…" He rasped out, clearing his parched throat he tried again. "Who are you? What do… you want with me?" He heard foot steps echo in the room and a door was opened, bright light streaming through and blinding him. He wrenched his head to the side, fighting the resistance he met at his neck, and cried out as pain blossomed behind his eyes. He missed the figure moving through the door and glancing back at him in the light. He missed the face he would have recognized as the older hunter friend who'd saved his life so many times in the past. The door slammed with a metallic echo that made his ears ring. He was plunged into all consuming darkness again. When his pounding head settled some he tried to break free of the restraints. He flexed and strained against the coarse grained leather that held him fast to the steel table.

"Guuuhhhh." He cried as the leather around his neck bit into his flesh and cut off his air supply. When he'd pulled at some slack in his hands and ankles the strap around his neck tightened. He sagged, realizing he was unable to get free without help. His strength deserted him and he felt the beckoning darkness envelop him. He gave in, feeling like he was going mad.

_Sam found himself standing in a cemetery on a pitch black night. No stars or moon glowed in the sky. Sam began walking, some unseen force making his footfalls sure even though he felt blind. It propelled him on with a growing sense of urgency. Fog snaked about his ankles, feeling almost tangible, as if it could wrap him up and trip him. It steadily rose from the ground to enshroud him. He felt as though he were suffocating, drowning in the mists. The water droplets clung to his skin and a chill penetrated his flesh, going clear to his bones to settle there._

_Sam pushed forward through the rising mist a now urgent feeling of needing to find something controlling his every move, spurring him on again. He stopped suddenly, the feeling leaving him to be replaced by the feeling he'd found what he was looking for. The mists that had obscured everything appeared to shrink back from the massive black granite headstone. He circled it slowly; having come up from what he thought was the back. It appeared to gleam in the moisture laden darkness even though there was no natural light._

"_No." Sam near whispered. "No." The headstone was blank and smooth. He felt the fog move in around him, a tangible vibration going through it, echoing to him. The force that had propelled him to find the granite slab now gripped him and he found himself reaching both hands towards the black granite. He couldn't stop himself. "No!" He cried even as he fought the pull of the unseen force. The fog began to vibrate and hum around him. He felt part of himself detach and found himself watching a copy of him._

_He watched 'Sam' touch the stone and he shared the sensation of the smooth stone sliding under his fingers, the rough sides scratching at the skin of his fingertips. It was wet although the fog never seemed to touch it. He could feel the moisture. Sam watched himself caress the stone almost lovingly, horror coursing through his blood. The fog began to intensely hum, pulsating for a second before the tone changed audibly, becoming a whisper. He heard it, speaking in hushed tones to the other 'Sam'. _

'_Sam' continued to caress the cold stone sharing the sensation but not speaking. Sam saw his counterpart move forward and lay his face against the stone, his cheek connecting for a brief moment as the whisper became understandable words._

"_On your hands. It's on your hands, the blood of many, the blood of one. It's on your hands, on your hands." Sam shrank back at the words that assaulted him. He clapped his hands to his ears and tried to block the words that shattered his soul. He turned his head away and screwed his eyes shut, hands still covering his ears and he squeezed more forcibly against the sides of his head. The fog snaked around his chin and forced his head back to the scene before him. His eyes were pried open by the controlling force and his hands forced to his sides. He was made to absorb the scene before him. He found he couldn't look away or even blink. The whispers took delight in his suffering. The words gained speed and intensity, becoming a maddening chant._

"_On your hands, it's on your hands. On your hands, it's on your hands. On your hands, it's on your hands. On your hands it's on your hands. On your hands it's on your hands"_

_The moon came out of hiding and 'Sam' stood and stepped away from the stone. The light shone on him as he held his hands up to Sam. Sam shook his head vehemently but was unable to pry his eyes away from the sight he beheld. 'Sam's' hands and forearms were red with dripping blood and his cheek had the same crimson stain on it, dripping off his chin. 'Sam' turned his hands out to the Sam watching on in horror._

'_Sam' tossed his head to shake his hair back from his eyes. As he brought his head back to face his fear struck counter part his eyes turned yellow. He moved with blinding speed to stand directly in front of Sam. He raised his bloody hands to Sam's face. They burned like a cold acid and Sam felt himself die inside._

"_NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Even as he screamed his yellow eyed counterpart threw his head back and bellowed with laughter. Sam felt his essence being ripped apart. His scream was choked off and was replaced by that same laugh. Sam looked at his hands, still roaring with that uncontrollable maniacal laughter. Blood dripped from his fingers to stain the earth crimson. _

Sam woke not with a scream, but with that laugh echoing in the darkness around him and still pouring from him. Horror streaked through him and set fire to his soul as he roared with that evil laughter. The same laughter that had come from him when he was possessed, when Ruby had made him "evil" to save Dean from hell. Tears streamed down his face as he silently begged for the strength to stop. He raised his head as far as the restraint around his neck would allow and slammed it back to the table. It was enough to render him unconscious, silencing that laugh bubbling from his throat and driving him mad. He didn't see the three pairs of black eyes that watched from the darkness and inside his mind. He didn't notice the one set briefly become human hazel and shine with sympathy and determination before flickering to that black and becoming invisible in the darkness once again.

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"Watch for the signs. What the hell do they mean by watch for the signs Bobby? Where could he be? What the hell are they doin' to m' brother?" Dean said as he pushed himself up from the bed in the motel room, running a hand nervously through his short hair before resuming pacing about the small room.

"Kid, I wish I knew. Last I heard from Joshua was two weeks ago. He was on a hunt…" Bobby trailed off, an odd look coming to his face.

The sudden silence from the older hunter had Dean stopping and turning to face him from across the room where his feet had taken him. "What Bobby?"

"Josh was on a hunt with two others. Three demons who got outta the gate were on a rampage. Powerful. With a grudge against psychics. Remember how Sam thought there were more generations of psychics out there besides his?"

"Rosie."

"And others, older. They'd be middle aged now, born in '60. Josh figured out it was true when these three started going around killing off the kids or possessing them and leaving them institutionalized. He followed leads on the kids and found five in hospitals. The rest are dead."

"Every twenty three years?"

"Yep. Powerful. Way more so than Sam. Josh gathered that these demons wanted one of these other kids to take Sam's place as leader of the demon army. I'd be willing to bet that these hunters stumbled on those demons."

"You think they're possessed and have Sam?"

"Boy, I'd bet my life on it."

"If those freakin demons lay a hand on him or do anything to Josh they're gonna wish they stayed in hell." Dean raced across the room and grabbed his jacket.

"Dean, where the hell are you goin'?"

"To watch for the signs." He left the motel room, Bobby following as the older hunter pulled his ball cap down on his head.

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Sam woke to the echoing sound of the steel door slamming. A bare bulb flickered to life above him. It cast a glare that had him closing his eyes tight as pain exploded behind them. He rolled his head to the side as far as he could, wincing when the steel table put pressure on his self inflicted lump.

"I see you finally decided to join us in the land of the living and not delusional." A voice said as the body it belonged to quickly tied a black cloth around Sam's head, effectively blindfolding him. The knot was tied tightly in his long hair. He tried to shrug them off, hating the cold feel of the hands that gripped his chin to hold him still. As he fought, the restraint about his neck was forcibly tightened when a cold hand gripped his wrist and pulled it up off the table. It threatened to strangle him. He forced himself to still and relax. The hand dropped his wrist and he drew much needed air into his lungs, dissolving into a coughing fit that had him panting and his head throbbing.

He swallowed hard when the cough stopped. "Why are you doing this to me?" he asked quietly with a note of desperation in his voice. The others in the room laughed softly.

"Because we want to hold an election instead of being told who leads us. We want to choose who we follow when we fight to rule this world." Sam heard footsteps approach as his total lack of sight forced his other senses into hyper-awareness. He heard air swoosh and pain exploded in his head as a fist connected with his right cheek just below his eye. His head snapped to the side, the leather restraint cutting his neck. His world went black instantly as the person behind the fist turned to the others. Sam didn't feel the blood soaking into his collar. He didn't feel the cut on his cheek that soon mingled its blood with the other. He didn't hear the person say, "Take him off the table, strip him to the waist, and hang him from the ceiling in the other room."

"Should we treat his injuries?" Another voice asked.

"No, he's going to have worse ones soon." A Polaroid camera was pulled from a pocket by the person speaking and Sam didn't see the flash go off. "Send this to the brother." One of the people took the picture and looked at it. It showed clearly a restrained and blindfolded Sam Winchester, with a vivid, swelling, bloody bruise on his cheek and a cut on his neck, blood flowing to stain his shirt with every heartbeat. The person who now had the picture walked from the room still staring at it. The human hazel of his eyes filled with tears as he thought of what the boy would go through before he could make his move. The eyes hardened and turned black once again, tears drying up.

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It was dark now. Dean and Bobby had ridden in the Impala for nearly twelve hours after taking it from the diner and calling the police anonymously to report a mass murder and robbery. They had been scouring every road from paved to dirt in two counties with no sign of Sam. Dean was becoming frantic now, the picture of his brother's blood on the cooler doors burned forever into his memory. He suddenly hit the brakes hard, bringing the car to a screeching halt. Bobby reached out to brace himself against the dash as Dean pounded a fist off the wheel in agitation. "DAMN IT!" He laid his head back against the seat and swallowed hard at the mental images that assaulted him. Images both from his dream and things his mind was telling him were happening to Sam.

_Sam, tied up somewhere, being beaten and tortured, whipped, cut, burned. Sam possessed, eyes glowing yellow instead of black as he faced off against Dean, the other demons flanking their General closely. Sam, dying in Dean's arms again, this time a bullet from the Colt embedded in his chest. Sam, covered in his own blood, begging for Dean to save him and dying alone because Dean wasn't able to protect him._ Dean's breathing became faster, more audible, as Bobby watched the emotions play across his face.

"Dean?" Getting no response Bobby turned in the seat and reached a hand to Dean's shoulder. "Dean?" Dean jumped at his name and turned to his friend.

"Sorry."

"You're exhausted. Lemme drive for a bit. 'sides, I get the feeling these damn demons would want to keep Sam close, keep him under our noses to mess with our heads. Let's head back to the motel and I'll make some calls, see if someone's heard anything recently from those other two hunters Josh was with. Maybe it's not them. C'mon, shove over." Dean got out of the car and circled as Bobby did the same. Dean stopped before getting back in and put his elbows up on the roof of the car. His hands clenched together, white knuckled on the roof.

"Bobby, what if it's not those hunters? What if it's the kids; that older generation you mentioned? What would they do to him if they want to take his place?"

Bobby looked at Dean over the roof of the car. "Let's hope it is the hunters."

**A/N: Please let me know what you think. Next update will be late tomorrow. Hope to see you back.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Here's the start of the action as promised. Hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear from you all! Please let me know what you think.**

**Warnings this chapter for extremely hurt Sam and angst for Dean. Also should mention: Don't own 'em, just inflicting pain. They go home to Kripke for band-aids! **

**Chapter 3**

Sam woke again to shivering and an awful pain in his wrists, neck and shoulders. Awareness came back slowly as he pried open an eye. The blindfold was gone. The other eye wouldn't open and he knew this time that it wasn't just blood holding it shut. He could feel the swollen flesh and the throb that accompanied it. His bare arms were stretched tight over his head, his feet barely skimming the ground. He tried to stand, to take his body weight off his shoulders and ease the pain, but found that he was extended beyond his reach. His boots barely connected with the cement floor, the tread grating over it as his body swung from his movements. Dizziness and nausea swamped him at the throbbing in his head and the pain in his neck. He stilled and could feel dry blood against his neck. He also felt blood seeping from the wound at his elbow down his upraised arm to his shoulder. His position must have re-opened the wound. He was in a different room now. Cold, it was cold, and he was shirtless. There was a window high in the rafters, bright light streaming through. He looked at it momentarily, hoping to see something he recognized but all he saw was sky, a few lazy, white, puffy clouds slowly drifting through the blue. He heard another door open, this time a wooden one that didn't make that awful grating sound as steel met steel too tightly. A woman came in, blond and small of stature, but she had the look of a predator about her. She had a knife in a sheath at her waist. The blade was visible slightly, just below the hilt. Sam could tell it was iron. She was a hunter.

"You're a hunter. Why are you taking part in this? Why are you hurting me?"

"Oh, well you see Sammy; I'm a little more than an ordinary hunter." She said in a playful voice. She stepped up to him and planted a kiss on his lips, locking her eyes to his. Hers turned black and Sam pulled back so fast he lost his precarious footing and his arms bore the brunt of his weight, drawing a screaming protest from his shoulders and leaving him breathless. "Easy there, kiddo." She said as she gripped his neck and picked him up, taking the weight off his arms. He had the presence of mind to try the chains and see if they had any give. None. She saw him struggle with them and dropped him, the fall and pull wrenching his left shoulder from its socket.

"GGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sam screamed. He felt blackness crouching at the edges of his vision, nibbling away at his consciousness. She picked him up again and settled him back on his toes with one hand, using demonic strength, while the other looped a noose about his neck and fastened it over the beam that held the chain that bound his wrists over his head. She pulled the rope tight enough to dig into his throat and give him absolutely no slack. It dug into his neck just under his chin and held his head up straight so that he had to lower his eyes to see her face. His pain addled brain comprehended her next words even as they rang horribly true.

"You so much as slouch and you'll hang yourself. You wouldn't want to leave that brother of yours nothing to find except a corpse, would you? Especially since he just got out of his deal. You haven't even had time to celebrate." She pulled a handful of something from her jacket pocket. She threw it up into the air, drawing an involuntary flinch from Sam before he realized what it was. Confetti. The tiny brightly covered scraps of paper floated harmlessly to the floor around Sam's feet.

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"Yeah, okay. Thanks Wilkins. You hear anything at all you call me." Bobby listened briefly. "Yeah, I hope we find him too." He clicked his phone shut and walked to the bed. He put a hand to Dean's shoulder and shook gently. Dean jumped and grabbed Bobby's wrist even as "Sammy?" came to his lips.

"Sorry, Dean. The three hunters have fallen off the radar. Good news is that it looks like it _is_ them who have Sam."

"Why the hell is that good news?" Dean asked, sitting up on the bed.

"'Cause they won't kill him outright like the people who want to take his place."

"God, Bobby. We have got to get him back."

"I know we do. And we will but, Dean, you gotta be ready. This could take a while. We don't know what kinda shape he's in now or what he'll be like when we find him. This is gonna get bad." Dean swallowed hard and looked briefly at the stained carpet before casting hardened eyes back in Bobby's direction.

"I'll be ready." Dean said menacingly.

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The female demon possessed hunter left Sam. He was confused, hurting. He tried to clear his mind enough to take stock of all his injuries and try to find an escape. "Okay, Sam. Think damnit." He chided himself, trying to break through the fog that clouded his mind. He finally closed his eyes and took a mental look at himself. His head throbbed, both at the back and along his cheek. A burning cut graced his neck, pulled open continuously by the rope about his throat. The rope itself was gradually creating a raw, sore spot under his chin as his body swayed on his toes to keep the weight off the rope. His arm burned, the wound feeling hot, and he knew infection was setting in. He had no idea how long he'd been here or where he was. _Dean's gotta be worried sick. I'm worried sick. What if they got him and Bobby too? Oh God Dean, please be okay. Please be out there somewhere safe. Bobby, keep him safe. Don't let him come for me. God, please, I just got him back free and clear. Don't let these demons take him from me now._ Sam fought to slow the breathing that he was unsure of when exactly it had sped up. The rope bit into his neck, making him unable to draw a full breath and darkness waited to embrace him._Gotta calm down. If I pass out…_ Sam breathed slow and steady and the muddy feeling cleared from his mind. He continued taking stock of his injuries and surroundings.

Sam continued to breathe. More pains registered in him. His shoulder now felt numb from being disconnected from its joint. His hands tingled, blood leaking down his forearms where the chain had bitten into his skin. His thighs and calves cramped horribly from trying desperately to keep his weight supported on just his boot clad toes. He felt a momentary relief that they didn't take his boots. His ribs ached some but he figured that it was from his hanging position and not from injury since it wasn't a sharp or stabbing pain. He looked again at his surroundings and then up at his chains. They were heavy gauge, and rusty, like they'd been in the weather. He noticed in the dim lighting that rust flecks were stuck in the raw places on his wrists and some were suspended in the drying blood that caked his arms. Sarcasm washed over him and he stifled a half insane giggle._ Looks like a tetanus shot for me._ He looked at the beam again. The chains that he was suspended from were wrapped around the steel support for the… "Huh." Sam said suddenly. He scrutinized that part of his surroundings. He couldn't quite tell if he was in a basement and he was looking at the horizontal beam that supported a house or if it just held up a roof. He could still see daylight from the small window. Turning to look behind him and being careful not to wrench his shoulder he looked at where the beam met the cement block wall.

"Yes!" Sam whispered to himself. The block wall caught his eye. He saw daylight coming in from around the steel beam. The block and mortar were crumbling and Sam figured he was in an old or abandoned building. "If I can just work my way over to that end, I think I can get out of these chains." He looked at the rope that led to the noose about his neck where it connected to the beam. _That might be a problem._ The rope was tied off tightly. There was no give in it and he couldn't reach it with his uncooperative hands. The chain and rope that held him were not quite a foot longer than his arms. He tried stretching and extending his right fingers, not being able to make his left do what he wished. His legs screamed in pain at the stretching and he sagged, the rope at his throat pulling tight once again. He winced and stood straight again. "Damn. If that freak hadn't dislocated my shoulder for me I'd be outta here."

Something came to Sam's ears and he turned back around quicker than he intended as he heard heavy footfalls outside the wooden door to the room he was in. The door burst open and a big man came through. His eyes were black and shone with disdain as he looked upon Sam. A scar ran the length of his jaw line, looking like something at one time had tried to cut his throat. "So this is supposed to be the leader. I always thought Azazel was cracked." The man's voice was raspy from damage to his throat Sam surmised. The demon possessed man pulled a big bowie knife from a sheath on his belt. He brandished the knife and stalked up to Sam.

Sam shrank back as best he could from the knife that came closer and closer. The demon in the man twisted his face into a parody of a smile and ran the flat of the blade down Sam's face from his forehead to his chin. Sam flinched when the blade moved over his swollen cheek. "Aw, did that hurt, pretty boy?"

Sam's eyes shifted away from the man for the first time. The demon inside took it to be an admission on Sam's part and chuckled. Sam looked back in time to see the angle of the knife change as it came back up to rest just beneath his eye. The demon stepped up closer to Sam and grinned. "This'll hurt a hell of a lot more!" He laughed in Sam's face and turned the blade, raking the sharp edge down over Sam's swollen cheek as if it were a straight razor. Sam tried to pull back and the demon's other hand grabbed Sam by the unmarred cheek and pushed his face into the blade. Sam screamed as blood poured from the wound as skin was shaved off the high spots along the swelling. The blackness claimed Sam as the pain he was experiencing drove off his consciousness. He sagged and immediately began to wheeze as the rope tightened and started hanging him. The man's conscious mind fought the demon, trying to reclaim his body and help the young hunter but the demon pushed back and broke the hunter's spirit with one image. The man's possessed wife, cutting his throat with a butcher's knife as she held him at the bathroom mirror with demonic strength and forced him to watch his own blood flow. The demon inside the hunter regained control and forced the man's body back to watch Sam slowly suffocate.

**A/N: Yes I'm leaving it here for tonight. Remember, I don't write death fic even though right now it looks bleak for our Sammy. Please review. It makes me want to update faster.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:Thanks to everyone who reviewed for chapter 3 and the others before. I love hearing what you guys think. YOU ROCK! Special thank you to Psylocke23 and SamDeanLover28 for making my evening with your reviews for that chapter. Hope you enjoy this one. It's a little longer than others with a lot more angst. **

**Just to let you know the internet is useful. I am not a heavy drinker but was recently sick so I mixed up something that burned and then wondered if it had a name. I looked it up in Google and came up with the whole mess with Dean's head with drink names. Just read, you'll figure it out soon enough! **

**Chapter 4**

A knock sounded at the motel room door and Dean quickly stood from the bed, pulling his gun from under the pillow and thumbing the safety off. He turned so it wasn't visible and walked to the door, looking through the peephole. He recognized the manager from when they had checked in._ Was that really a week ago?_ Dean looked at Bobby and nodded, still holding his gun now behind his back he opened the door.

"Someone dropped this at the front desk for you. Said give it only to Mr. Reeve."

Dean remembered the alias he and Sam had used when they checked in. "How did you know to give it to me instead of my brother?"

"Guy said only one of you would be here, and that's who I was supposed to give it to. I asked him the same thing when I told him there were two Mr. Reeves in the room." The guy held out the small envelope to Dean again and he took it.

"Thanks. Hey, what did the guy look like? Did he leave a name? I'd just like to thank him personally." Dean barely concealed the menace in his voice. The manager shook his head no, turned and walked off, shrugging his shoulders. Bobby stood and came up to Dean's side.

"Looks like they know where we are. We probably oughta pack our gear and find another motel."

"No. When Sammy gets free he'll come back here."

"Dean…"

"NO!" Dean growled as he turned away from Bobby and opened the envelope amidst a hard swallow. Images came to him unbidden of the torture his brother could be going through. He hated to think of what might be in the small yellow envelope. Dean peeked inside and saw what looked to be the edge of a Polaroid photo and nothing else. He pulled it out and turned it over in his hand. It immediately fell to the floor as Dean groaned.

"Dean?"

Dean's eyes followed the picture to the floor where it rested face down. Bobby stooped and picked it up. Dean's eyes followed his every move, now with tears threatening to spill from the green orbs. "Sammy."

Bobby looked at Dean before turning over the picture in his hands. "Aw, damn." He said when he laid eyes on the picture. Those eyes welled with tears even as Dean sank to the bed behind where he stood. Sam's bed.

"Sammy."

"We're gonna get him back. I promise ya that." Bobby said as he put the picture face down on the small table between the beds. Dean picked it up and put it in his shirt pocket.

"They're gonna pay." Dean said, even as he held a hand to the picture of his battered brother that rested over his heart. Dean stood from the bed and headed towards the door.

"Now where are you goin?"

"Out lookin' for information. Stay here. I'll be in touch."

"Dean."

"No Bobby. I have to do something. He's my brother!"

"I'll try some things here. If I find out anything…"

"I will too." Dean left.

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The hunter stepped back up to Sam's limply hanging body. His face was a mottled shade of red-purple and his lips were blue. Veins stood out on his forehead. His eyes were still closed and his feet had begun twitching slightly as he hung from both the rope and the chains holding him prisoner. The hunter quickly raised the knife and sliced through the rope. Sam fell as far as the chains would allow, his dislocated shoulder giving another pop as a ligament tore. He drew a strangled breath and continued to wheeze, remaining unconscious.

"Can't let you die. The boss wouldn't be happy." The hunter pulled back a meaty fist after sheathing his bloody bowie knife and punched Sam in the stomach hard. The air that Sam was fighting for was pushed from his body as Sam swung on his chains, his boots scraping the floor.

The other demon possessed man came inside the room and looked at the other one. "Does she want to go out? Tease the brother?" The scarred hunter asked the small man.

"She knows where he is. She is the best tracker his side has. Should we leave him?" The small man asked, nodding to an unconscious Sam.

"He's not going anywhere." The ham fisted hunter punched Sam in the stomach again and then caught him with an uppercut that had him jostling on his chains. Blood gushed down his chin from his nose as his head jerked back and then fell forward from the blow. The big man turned away from the smaller, wiry one and left the room. The other man cast a glance back at the young Winchester as the blood bubbled with every ragged breath he took and expelled. The demon possessed man's eyes changed and he put a hand to his head, for the first time in two weeks in full control of his body. He touched Sam's cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Sammy. I'll find a way to help you. Ahhh…" Joshua stumbled and stood straight again, a smirk forming on his face as the demon within gained control again. Joshua railed against the demon, trying to get free again._ "Don't hurt him you Sonofabitch!"_ The demon pushed back and inflicted mental pain on Joshua as his essence hid in a dark corner of his mind curled up in a ball. The demon controlling Joshua's body forced him to the surface enough to watch but gave him no control. Joshua watched his hands repeatedly strike Sam. Joshua heard one of Sam's ribs crack. _"Stop! Stop hurting him! STOP MAKING ME HURT HIM!!"_ The demon stood back again, in full control, and laughed a long deep laugh. He caught unconscious Sam by the chin and raised his face. It was a bloody mess now, his nose broken, both eyes blackening and three separate cuts oozing the precious life giving fluid down the sides of his face to coat is neck and chest. Sam sucked in a rasping breath, remaining unconscious. Joshua let his head fall back to his chest and stalked from the room.

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Dean found the nearest bar and went inside, taking a seat at the corner of the bar where he could watch everyone who comes through the door and also everyone already there. The bartender came over to him. "What'll ya have, dude?" Dean looked at the barkeep and appraised the man instantly. He was someone used to hearing everyone's troubles. He got a lot of people who told him sob stories while nursing a beer until closing time.

"Just a beer, thanks. What do ya have on tap?"

"Bud light."

"That'll work." The bartender soon returned, plunking down a pint glass mug with amber looking liquid inside. He looked Dean over.

"You new in town?"

"Just passing through. Road trip with my kid brother."

"He old enough to drink?"

Dean sipped his beer and nodded. "He's a lightweight though. He stayed at the motel because I was agitating him." Dean checked over the new arrivals as the door opened. He vaguely wondered why he felt the need to talk to this man.

"What's your name?" The bartender asked. "I'm Mike."

"Dean."

The newcomers motioned to him, signaling for a bottle of Jack and four glasses. He sat the requested items on the bar and a waitress came to get them. She took them over and Dean watched as the door opened again. Dean stiffened almost imperceptibly but Mike had turned his attention back to him and caught the movement. "You okay Dean?"

"Huh, yeah."

He watched as the woman and the big guy came up to the bar to stand beside him.

"What'll ya have?" Mike asked them.

"Sam Adams." The woman said. Dean suppressed the urge to flinch as she looked at him.

"Make mine a Flat liner." The big man with the scar said before looking with a leer in Dean's direction. The third one came up and looked at Dean before turning to the bartender.

"Gimme a Colt 45 Malt." He said, glancing at Dean again. Dean got up, dropped five dollars onto the bar, nodded at Mike and walked to the bathroom. The big hunter made a move to follow but Joshua stopped him.

Joshua's eyes turned black for the merest of seconds as he glared at the other man as if to say _I've got this one._ He turned and went to the bathroom. He opened the door and went in. Dean had him pinned to a wall before he knew what was happening. Holy water sprayed into his face from a hip flask that Dean brandished.

He sizzled and the demon screamed, fleeing from the blessed water. Dean pocketed the flask and drew the Colt from his waistband. "Guhh, Dean!" Joshua's eyes searched Dean's and Dean returned the favor, but kept the Colt pressed against his chest. "Dean, it's me right now!"

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? You're freakin' possessed and playin' me you sonofabitch. Where the hell is my brother?! I'm gonna exorcise your ass straight back to freaking hell for good with this gun if you don't _TELL ME NOW!_"

Joshua moved and Dean cocked the Colt, still holding it flush against his chest. Josh moved slowly and pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. Dean cast a glance at it and then looked at Joshua's eyes again. Fear was there. Dean stepped back but still held the gun on him.

"Listen to me Dean. It's in me but I can get control once in a while. I had the charm when it took me and the others. The demons in the others are dangerous and have full control of the hunters. We got ambushed two weeks ago. I still have some control and I don't think the demon knows that I do. I'm not safe to be around. I can't stop it once it wants control. I have to tell you that Sam needs you bad. He's hurt and I… this thing inside me helped to hurt him. I'm sorry for that but I'm trying to make up for it now." Josh stopped speaking and shook his head as if suddenly confused. A hand shot to his temple and fear flared in his eyes. "It's... kid, GO!"

"Where's Sam? Josh…."

"Aarghh! GO DAMNIT! I can't fight it! It knows that Ruby is in town. Find her and you can find us….. Dean, stop me when you do. I can't live like this… Ahhh! **GO!**"

Dean turned and ran from the bathroom. He left the bar at a fast clip. Joshua came out right behind and returned to the others who looked at him as if to ask _did you deliver the message?_

Joshua nodded mutely even as his eyes turned black for the others alone to see. They got up and left the bar in time to see the Impala screech out of the parking lot. Mike followed them out of the bar.

"Hey, you didn't pay for your drinks!" Three pairs of black eyes turned to leer at Mike. He swallowed hard. "Uh, for-g-get it, on the house!" He turned and walked quickly back inside.

The three demons laughed at the fear the human gave off. Suddenly they stilled, heads raised as if sniffing the air. The woman looked at the others with fear in her black eyes. "The boss is in town." They got into the big black truck that belonged to the smaller man and took off back to the farm house that held their prisoner. This was going to be fun and they didn't want to miss it. As they drove down the road the sky darkened and fear streaked through them of the powerful and obviously angry demon responsible for the lashing storm that surrounded the farmhouse five miles outside town.

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Sam opened his eyes to the merest of slits when light penetrated his eyelids from the opening door of the room he was being kept in. Everything hurt and his throat felt swollen. It was difficult to draw in air he desperately needed. His mouth worked to say something as he struggled to raise his head when he felt someone walk up to him. His chin fell back against his chest and he saw a blurry image of a noose's knot resting just beneath his chin. He tried to raise his head again but failed miserably only to have it grasped by his hair and jerked up unmercifully.

"Well, well. Looks like they started the fun without me. Too bad, I was hoping you'd be more fun to break into a sobbing pile of bones. Shame you're not fully conscious. " Sam's eyes opened a small amount, all they would against the swelling, and he drew another ragged breath, trying to rouse himself. He felt that this thing in front of him was dangerous and while his mind was screaming at him, he couldn't get the barest of reactions out of his body. He was at their mercy.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please don't forget to let me know what you thought. Next chapter will be up tomorrow.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here's another chapter for all of you following this one so closely. Thanks to all who reviewed. You guys are great. More angst and hurt in this one as promised. Sammy needs a little more than a band aid, Kripke! **

**Chapter 5**

Dean kicked up fine dust along the shoulder of the road and swerved back into his lane on the way back to the motel at breakneck speeds. _Sam Adams… Flat liner… Colt 45. Sammy, my brother. Oh god what have they done to him? I know they were trying to mess with my head. It worked. Sammy, please be alive. Flat liner… Colt. "Dean, I have control now but I can't fight it when it wants to take it back. I can't live like this… Stop me when you find us… Flat liner… Sam…Colt… "Stop me, Dean." _ Dean slammed on the brakes when he realized he had turned off into the motel parking lot. He skidded to a halt in front of his door and got out, running inside.

"Bobby, I found…" Dean trailed off and took in the scene before him. Bobby was leaning against the chest of drawers that held the TV while Ruby was perched on Sam's bed, looking very nervous with her hands clenching the edge. "Ruby, what are you doing here?"

"I came as soon as I heard what happened. The demonic chat room is buzzing with news that three have Sam and a badass sonofabitch is about to join the party. No one tells me anything though. That red eyed bitch of a crossroads demon is doing a bang up job of spouting crap to anyone who'll listen that I'm in Sam's back pocket. No one talks shop when I'm around."

Thunder suddenly rattled the room as the sky turned pitch black, lightening forking between the churning clouds. Rain and hail began crashing to the ground, striking everything and leaving a coating of white in its wake. Ruby glanced at Dean and swallowed hard. "He's in town."

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The three demons ran quickly into the abandoned farmhouse, knowing by the ferocity of the sudden storm that their boss was pissed. The woman shrank back behind the big man and Joshua brought up the rear as the three made their way down the basement steps to face the demon they followed.

The demon dropped Sam's head with a snarl on his face as he sensed the others come into the room behind him. Sam gave a gurgling wince as the motion lit him up with pain through his head, neck, shoulders, and ribs. He tried to remain conscious, tried to hear what was said, but felt it blurring and slipping away. Blackness comforted him and dulled the aches.

The three demons skidded to a halt in front of the man possessed by the powerful demon that had them all cowering in their soft human shells. The man was tall and lean, yet muscular with chin length hair a few shades darker than that of the captive Winchester strung up behind him. His angular jaw clenched with a barely controlled fury as he looked down upon the other three demons before him.

"You're all idiots." He said quietly with a sneer. "I thought I told you I wanted him taken conscious and UNINJURED. I should send you all back to hell for this insolence!"

"No, please!" the possessed woman begged, stepping out from behind the others to come up to the demon before her. She reached a hand up to touch his arm and he reached out and gripped her blond hair in his fist, pulling her in for a punishing kiss. She struggled against the assault and the man growled. She stilled and he pulled back. Horror flickered in her black eyes as he sneered at her, his eyes flashing darker that hers. Her breath hitched and she clutched at her host's chest. A silver flash worked its way through her and black smoke began forcing its way out of her throat. The woman began convulsing as she dropped to her knees, black demon smoke now pouring from her. She gave one more silver flash before falling to her side on the cement floor. Her lifeless blue eyes landed on the other two possessed hunters but saw nothing.

"That will hopefully teach you that _WHEN I TELL YOU HOW I EXPECT SOMETHING HANDLED THAT'S HOW I EXPECT IT TO BE!"_ The thunder rumbled loud enough to shake the farmhouse to its foundations and dislodge more of the mortar that held the beam Sam was fastened to. Lightening arched and lit up the dark night sky repeatedly.

The dust settled and the other two demons dropped their black eyes to the cement floor. "Yes, sir." Both men said.

"Get rid of that hunter scum. I don't want to look at her." He nudged the woman's body with the toe of his black boot disdainfully, and looked to the bigger hunter to dispose of her. "You help me with him. I want to have my playtime with the young Winchester and I want it uninterrupted." He locked black eyes with Joshua and then turned to Sam. He grabbed hold of the young hunter's abused shoulder and Joshua stepped up to support Sam's other arm. The demon gave a flick of his wrist and the chains disintegrated in front of Joshua's eyes. Sam fell towards the cement floor only to be roughly jerked upright by the two men. Sam grunted in pain and forced himself to wake. He looked at the people who now supported him.

"Jo-sh?" Joshua stilled and met the other demon's eyes over a sagging Sam's head. His eyes turned black in response to an unspoken question reflected in the other demon's black orbs under raised eyebrows. Sam raised his head a bit and caught the black shine of his friend's eyes. "No." He managed before his head slipped back to his chest and he went limp in their arms.

"So, he knows your host?"

"Yes."

"Good. You can use that body to help me bring him to his knees." The demon began dragging Sam towards the stairs. Joshua had no choice but to help support his young friend and try to take most of his weight to minimize the stress to the injured arm that the other bastard was pulling on. _Oh, God. He wants me to hurt Sam. How am I supposed to do that to the boy I love like my own son? How the hell am I going to live with the knowledge that any scars he comes away from this with are going to be my fault? Dean, please find Ruby. Save Sam and kill me. Please kill me._

They dragged Sam upstairs. By the time he was on the first floor of the farmhouse his cuts had reopened on his arm and face from the rough treatment. A blood trail could be followed easily on their trek to the only room in the house with the door shut. The demon waved a hand and the door burst open. Joshua looked on from the doorway in horror. In the center of the room was a steel table that looked vaguely like a stripped down dentist's chair, perforated with small round holes about every two inches across the surface. It had leather restraints at the neck, wrist, and ankle area, along with two branches off the head of the table that had surgical looking arms on it with small rounded two prong 'forks'. The table angled to sit up or lie back. The demon turned Sam around and carelessly dropped him onto the table. His head hit with a hard crack. Joshua could see blood begin to drip through the holes in the steel seat. His stomach lurched.

"What are we doing with him?" Joshua said as the demon slapped Sam hard across the cheek. Sam's eyes opened and he moaned, blinking to bring the room into focus. The demon quickly fastened the restraints around Sam's limbs. Sam's head rolled to face Joshua.

"Josh, fight. Help…me. Don't let….him…..please…..De-dean, nee…" Sam swallowed hard, his eyes slipping closed.

"No you don't." The demon said as he got a grip on Sam's chin and forced his head back straight on the table. He tightened the restraint on Sam's neck and then gripped the top of the table near Sam's head. He then used his strength to lever Sam nearly upright and lock the table into that position. "You want to know what we're going to do to him? We're going to leave him so broken that he'll never lead his way out of a padded room, let alone lead an army. Tell the other one to stand guard. This is going to get messy and I don't want interruptions. Bring back some ice water. I want him awake for this."

**A/N** **I know, I know. I'm messing with your heads. I'm posting this chapter early this morning but will be around this evening too. If enough people are interested I could do the next chapter this evening and you all can wish Dean gets his hands on this demon for how Sam comes away from this. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Okay, here's what you've been waiting for. The breaking of Sam. Hope you all enjoy and drop me a line. I love hearing from so many great people!  
**

**Chapter 6**

"Do you know who he is?"

"Not by name but he has a reputation. I know he's a badass and he wants Sam's place as leader of the army. He's underhanded and will do anything to get what he wants. Sam is in terrible danger."

"So's Joshua. A demon has Josh and two other hunters. He's not fully under the demon's control. He has one of those charms like you gave us, Bobby. Josh has moments when he has full control, when he can control what he does.

"Ruby, you can sense other demons right?"

"Normally yeah, but not this one. It is so powerful that I can't focus on where it is. Everything is just one big jumble. It's starting to give me a headache." A beep sounded from Sam's laptop, which Bobby had booted up and sent some emails to various contacts in hopes of finding something to help them get Sam back. One of his contacts was returning an email. Bobby walked over and sat at the worn chair. A few keystrokes later he looked at Dean and Ruby.

"I think I know where he is."

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The small arms connected to the table at Sam's temples were raised and angled to rest near his eyes. He gasped and cried out as ice cold water drenched him, raising goose bumps on his flesh. Water sluiced down his shirtless frame to soak his jeans and puddle on the dusty wooden floor.

"Guuhhh. What are you gonna do to me?" The demon smirked and leaned in, leering in Sam's face as he lowered the 'forks' to rest against Sam's eyelids, effectively holding them open. "Stop!" Sam tried to fight him off only to realize he had no mobility. He was strapped back to a table that had been elevated nearly upright. He had leather restraints about his neck, wrists, and ankles. The metal braces held his swollen eyes painfully wide open and his head back tight to the table. "Let me go. Please." Sam's eyes darted wildly about and then locked with Joshua's brown ones. "Josh….please….don't let him… do this…. Josh, please." Tears leaked from Sam's eyes as they involuntarily tried to blink and stay moist.

The demon looked at Joshua, suspicion flickering over his features._ God Sammy, I'm sorry._ Joshua pulled back a fist and let it fly, hitting Sam in the stomach. Josh felt another rib give beneath his hand and the air audibly left Sam's body once again. Sam grunted in pain and fought to catch his breath. The demon picked up a black piece of rubber with a small hollow tube sticking out of the rounded surface. He smiled sardonically and looked at Sam.

"Open up." Sam clenched his teeth and continued to try to catch his breath, nearly impossible through a broken nose. The demon gripped Sam's jaw painfully and forced his mouth open, inserting the rubber mouth guard between his teeth. Sam's breathing became a hollow sounding whistle as he breathed through the mouth guards little tube. "Now we have some fun."

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Dean circled the table to where Bobby sat looking at the screen. On it was the email from a contact that showed the current weather pattern in one window and the written forecast in another. "Forecast says clear skies and no precipitation 'till Thursday. This," Bobby pointed to the red blotch that covered there area on the map in the other window, "look like clear skies to you?"

Ruby had walked over to stand beside Dean and looked at the screen. "Looks like an omen to me."

"Five miles out. Makes sense, the demon would wanna keep Sam close to mess with our heads."

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The demon stepped up behind Sam and put a hand over each of his temples beneath the small arms that held his eyes wide open. Its eyes turned the darkest black that Joshua had ever seen. Sam struggled to dislodge the cold hands that touched his head, breathing hard through the rubber disc in his mouth. Silver flashed through the demon's hands and looked like static electricity moving to Sam's temples. He gasped through the tube in his mouth and his body went rigid, muscles straining against the restraints. Sam screamed. The demon laughed. Joshua was horrified.

_Sam found himself somewhere familiar. He was standing in a small dark room, leaning against a set of double doors. The vents in the doors were darkened as if something was against them. Sam panicked, pounding his fist against the door. His head suddenly started hurting. Pictures flashed through his mind. Dean standing in front of a blond woman. "You wanna kill her you gotta go through me." Sam's head gave a sharp throb and he suddenly found himself facing Dean. His gun was in his hand. _

"_Okay." Unable to stop himself, he squeezed the trigger. Dean dropped to the floor with a bullet hole in his forehead and a spray of blood and brain on the wall behind him._

_Sam was talking with a girl he recognized and her boyfriend as they walked through dark tiled corridors with cement black walls. He found a door and turned the knob the door opened and his head gave a sharp throb. He found himself standing over Dean as he lay on the floor on his back. Sam crouched down, his gun in his hands. "You hate me that much?"_

"_For once, just shut your mouth."_

"_Do it."_

_The gun fired, Dean's body jumping as the bullet entered his head and passed through, lodging in the floor behind him. _

_Sam found himself at the crossroads, Ruby beside him. He stooped and picked up the crystal that was Dean's soul selling contract. He looked at his brother, who had jogged up to him from where he had stood beside the Impala. "I've got it Dean."_

"_That's the contract?" Dean asked. Sam's head gave a throb. _

"_Not anymore." Sam crushed the crystal in his bare fist, his eyes turning yellow. Dean fell to the ground, eyes staring sightlessly at the night sky._

Sam's body strained against the leather holding him fast to the table, silver flashes going from the demons hands to Sam's body at a faster pace, gaining rhythm as Sam began to seize on the table. His eyes remained open, red rimmed with tears pouring from them. The table he was on began to shake, the demon fighting to keep a hold on Sam, to keep him under his control. Objects in the room began floating and the demon roared with laughter, sending more pulses into Sam's system. Blood vessels stood out on Sam's forehead and he continued to shake, his body surging against the straps. His back arched and his breath rasped through the tube sticking out of his mouth. His eyes, now leaking blood from the corners, danced wildly about the room not seeing anything. His body gave three hard jerks, breath gasping through the tube. The demon grinned maniacally and looked at Joshua as flashes continued to flow from him to Sam at a furious pace, looking like a strobe light.

"PULL THE GUARD, I WANT TO HEAR HIM SCREAM!"

Joshua stepped forward and hastily pulled on the rubber tube connected to the disc in Sam's mouth, the guard popping out of his mouth. His body seized and became rigid.

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh!"**_

The objects swirled through the room so fast they appeared to blur as Sam continued to scream in agony. Suddenly he went limp and everything crashed, glass broke out of the windows and the bare bulb hanging over Sam and the demons exploded. Sam's eyes remained open when the demon pulled his hands away and smiled at Joshua. He moved to look over Sam as his eyes returned to normal. The light from the sun fell on Sam's face and chest, glowing yellow on his skin. Joshua started suddenly. Sam's eyes were the same color as the sun.

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"Let's go get my brother and Josh back then. I have a need to kill one evil sonofabitch." Dean started towards the door, Ruby followed behind him, more than willing to kill a few demons if it meant getting Sam Winchester back in her life. The computer gave another beep and Bobby quickly opened another email from the same contact. It showed another map, with the same red blotch covering the area where they were. The center of the red spot had a black circle of off the chart activity on it.

"Hey, you'd better look at this." Bobby said. Ruby and Dean turned around and walked back over, looking at the screen.

Ruby gave a choked sound. "Oh my God!"

"What?"

"That's Sam."

**A/N: See you all tomorrow with two more chapters! Remember, reviews make my day.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks again for all the amazing reviews. YOU GREAT PEOPLE ROCK! This is the first chapter to come today with another one following later on. Please enjoy and I hope to hear from you all very soon. Remember, I don't write death fic.  
**

**Chapter 7**

"Dispose of him."

"No."

"What?"

"NO!" Joshua fastened his eyes to the demon before him. He pulled a flask of holy water from his jacket pocket and flung it in his face. The demon shrieked in pain as his face sizzled. The holy water quickly lost its power against the demon and the thing before him stood straight, black eyes blazing with fury.

"So, you played me?"

"Damn straight, now I send you back to hell."

"I know there's a demon in you. One of my subordinates. I can take your precarious grip on sanity from you easily. I can even make you kill the whelp while you watch, imprisoned and screaming in your own body." The demon approached Joshua even as the older hunter stepped up to protect Sam from the hell spawn in front of him.

"_Adjuro ergo te, omnis immundissime spiritus, omne phantasma, omnis incursio satanae, in nomine, jesu…_guhh…" Joshua had begun a powerful exorcism rite against the demon, still keeping his stance in front of unconscious Sam. The demon's eyes flashed red and black as it drew on its powers. Joshua felt himself stumble over words, pain flashing through his head. His chest tightened and his words faltered. The demon inside roared for release, fighting Joshua's control, rebelling against the strength of the charm that rested against his skin over his heart. "NO!" Joshua flicked the flask in his hand again, sending the last of the holy water onto the demon. The demon roared and sent Joshua flying to land against the wall. Joshua slumped to the floor and looked through his haze of pain to see the restraints come off of Sam with a flick of the demon's wrist. Sam sagged, headed for the floor, only for the demon to use it's abilities to pick him up. He hovered in mid air as Joshua pushed himself upright against the wall.

The demon laughed and raised a hand, its abilities lifting Sam higher into the air without touching him. The demon turned his hand slightly and Sam's limp, floating body turned to the same angle. The demon lifted its other hand and began making a fist slowly. Sam's body jerked in mid air and he groaned and began to writhe, blood leaking from his nose and mouth.

"NO, LET HIM GO!"

"You think I won't kill him? I'll rip him to pieces!"

"You won't get the chance." Ruby had come up silently behind the demon. She plunged her blade into the possessed man's back, sending red flashes through him as the demon killing knife once again did its job. The demon screamed, releasing its hold on Sam. He crumpled to the floor to lay in a mangled heap, his dislocated shoulder at an odd angle beneath him. Bobby rushed past the scene with Ruby standing behind the demon, her knife still buried to the hilt in the demon's spine, going to Joshua's side. Dean rushed to Sam's side.

"Josh, you okay, man?"

"No Bobby! Get away from me! There's a demon inside me. It's fightin' for control and I can't stop it! Stop me! Please, kill me Bobby! Get Sam outta here. He's hurt bad. It did something to him. It made me hurt him. GO!"

"Josh…"

"I SAID GO, DAMN IT!" Josh cried out and clutched a hand to his temple. Bobby was forced backwards when Joshua waved a hand. He stood, his eyes going black. "I warned you to get outta dodge while you could, old man. Now I'm gonna have me some fun!" Bobby was pushed, rolling across the floor like a tumble weed as Joshua's possessed body stalked across the room following the same path.

"Josh!" Dean called from where he stood beside Sam's unmoving body. Joshua turned black eyes to Dean and locked gazes with him as he raised the Colt. Dean fired. The bullet hit Joshua high in the shoulder, doing it's mystical job. Red flashes worked their way through Joshua's body, the demon being destroyed within as he slumped to the floor unconscious. Dean dropped to his knees beside Sam once again. Ruby came over and helped Dean straighten out his baby brother's long muscular frame. Bobby picked himself back up off the floor with a groan and went to Joshua's side once again. He felt for a pulse, finding one, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Bobby, is he okay?"

"He's alive. Demon's gone."

"Good. Sam needs a hospital." Dean pulled his cell from his pocket and prayed he could get a signal. Ruby stood from Sam's side after brushing his hair out of his bloody, closed eyes.

"I'll take care of the other bodies. The paramedics won't find anything suspicious."

"Don't bother. I can't get a signal."

Bobby checked his phone. "Neither can I."

"We have to get him to a hospital." Dean looked at Ruby. "Can you help me get him outta here without hurting him?"

"I think I've got it covered." She stood and allowed her powers to surface. A warm breeze began to blow through the room as Sam's limp body gently lifted from the floor. Dean moved to open the doors for her and she followed Sam's floating body outside the house to where Dean was waiting at the Impala with the back door open. She eased Sam into the back seat and allowed her telekinesis to deposit him softly on the bench. Dean rushed back inside and helped a grunting Bobby support Joshua and put him in the car. Bobby slid in the passenger seat and held Joshua upright to keep him from slouching into the driver's seat. Ruby looked at Dean. "Get him to the hospital. I'll clean things up here and check in later. Take care of Sam." She turned away and stepped towards the house.

"Ruby." She turned back. "Thanks."

"Go. He needs help." Dean slid into the car and fired the engine. Pulling out onto the highway Dean quickly followed the blue hospital signs into the next town. He pulled up as close to the ER doors as he could and bolted from the car. Two doctors were standing outside drinking coffee. At Dean's scream for help they dropped their cups and one followed Dean back to the car while the other soon came back with two teams and two gurneys. Bobby slid from the car and allowed them to pull Joshua out of the seat and lower him to a gurney. The whisked him away and turned their attention to badly injured Sam.

The doctor turned to Dean. "What's his name?" She asked before turning back to Sam and leaning into the back seat of the car.

"Sam. He's my kid brother."

"Sam, My name is Doctor Jenny Weston. Sam, can you hear me?" She rubbed his sternum briskly, trying to get a deep pain reaction out of him. "How old is he?"

"Twenty four."

"Okay people let's get him inside now." The two orderlies pulled the gurney close and lifted Sam gently out onto the soft surface. The doctor stepped in and opened Sam's bloody eyes. She touched her stethoscope to Sam's chest and listened. A grim look crossed her face briefly. "Let's move." They took him away with Dean and Bobby following closely. They soon arrived at the red doors to the ER and Sam was pushed inside. Dean went to follow but a tiny woman stopped him with a hand to his chest. Dean looked over her head and followed Sam down the corridor beyond the doors with true fear in his green eyes.

He pushed forward again to be stopped by the nurse. "I'm sorry, you can't go in there. Let them save his life. Doctor Weston is one of the best. She'll come to you soon."

Dean turned from the nurse and the door only when he could no longer see Sam. Bobby came up to him and gripped his shoulder. "They're gonna take care of him. Both of them. All we can do is wait. C'mon. Let's sit down." Bobby pulled him away and the nurse walked back to her station. Dean sat in one of the hard plastic chairs, his eyes never leaving those red doors. His left leg bounced nervously as he sat staring unflinchingly, the red of the doors giving way to the red of Sam's blood smeared over stainless steel.

_If you want him come find him. We're having fun with our leader._ Dean's eyes blurred and new images came to mind. _Sam, slumping to his knees, blood on his back as he fell forward into Dean's arms. Sam, with the blackest eyes he'd ever seen. Ruby as she touched a crystal to Sam's chest and he screamed. Sam falling to the ground, barely breathing. Sam being held in mid air, bleeding from the nose and looking like a broken doll as he hit the wood floor hard._

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Dean stood from the chair beside Bobby and scrubbed a hand over his face and through his spiky golden brown hair. They had been there for two hours now, waiting for word on Sam and Joshua. Dean felt like he was going mad. He began pacing across the room and leaned his head against the wall. He had the desire to put more force behind the gentle thump and put an end to the images that kept coming to him. He quashed that urge as he heard the soft whoosh of the red ER doors as they opened. Two doctors stepped through. He rushed back to Bobby as the older hunter stood. One of the doctors was Sam's. Dean recognized her face beneath its surgical cap. Her scrubs were soaked with blood. Sam's blood. Dean felt sick.

"Doc, my brother?"

The doctor looked from Dean to Bobby and back. Dean took her silence as meaning she thought she shouldn't say anything in front of Bobby. "It's okay, he's our Uncle. How's Sammy?"

Doctor Jenny Weston looked over the worried young man that stood a couple inches taller than her. She knew he was used to the truth from the no nonsense way he carried himself. It was something doctors picked up on quickly when dealing with family members in cases like this one. She turned to the nurse at the station and got her attention. "Show these two to my office." She turned back to Dean and looked him in the eyes. "We need to talk about Sam in private."

"Wait. How bad is he?" She looked at him and then dropped her eyes to her scrubs. "Give me ten minutes. I'll come to you in my office. Doctor Davis will fill you in on your friend too."

Dean and Bobby were shown into the office to wait for the doc. Dean couldn't stop pacing, biting his nails nervously. Ten minutes passed slowly and just as Dean was about to fly off the handle the doctors came into the room. Dr. Davis was the first to speak.

"We removed a bullet from the older man's shoulder. There was minimal damage and he'll be fine although he was showing signs of stress. We're giving him a transfusion and monitoring him carefully. You can see him anytime and he should be released in a couple days."

"Good." Dean said before the other doctor left them alone with Dr. Weston. The door to the office closed and Jenny leaned forward and propped her lab coat clad arms on her desk.

"What the hell happened to that boy?"

"Why?"

"Injuries like that, I should call the police. I've never seen someone so severely beaten. Something tells me not to go with my gut though. So you can either be straight with me from this point on or I get the cops."

"Sam was kidnapped yesterday. They beat him and tied him up. It's someone we've had problems with before. They took off after hurting him and left us to find him like this. Please, the cops'll never be able to help. Just tell me my brother's gonna be okay?"

"I can't."

**Next chapter up shortly. Please let me know what you thought of this one.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here's that second chapter for today. Enjoy! It's a nice, long, loopy roller coaster ride. Just the hand Fate and a twisted writer like myself loves to deal our favorite guys! **

**Chapter 8**

"What?"

"I won't lie to you. Sam has been through a very serious trauma. We went in and fixed the damage to his shoulder. Although it will need to be immobilized for quite some time it should heal nicely and, with physical therapy, he should get the majority of mobility back with little lasting pain. The tendons and ligaments that tore were clean enough to repair with little trouble. Because of the necessary immobility we had to use a porous cement often used in joint replacement on Sam's broken ribs to fix them until they heal because of the position of the breaks. The weight of his arm would have collapsed the broken ribs. We also removed bits of rust and metal from his wrists. We've given him a broad spectrum antibiotic to fight any germs that may have gotten in along with a shot to prevent tetanus."

She looked at Dean and her heart broke. "Sam slipped into a coma on the table. It appears like he's suffered a stroke. There was blood coming from his eyes and nose, classic signs of stroke. We won't know the degree until he wakes up. He's on a ventilator to keep his oxygen levels up, try to minimize damage caused to the brain tissues by the stroke. He's triggering it on his own though, so when he wakes I don't see why he can't come off it right away barring complications."

Dean took all this in with only one reaction. He blinked back the tears that threatened to spill from his green eyes. "When can we see Sammy?"

"He's going to be settled in a private room within the hour in ICU. You'll be able to see him for a short time then."

"Doc, I'm not leaving my brother. Once I go into his room I'm there until he's released."

"I can't allow that."

"I'm. Not. Leaving. Please Doc, he's all I got. We're never apart." Dean couldn't stop the single tear from flowing from the corner of his eye.

"Okay, I'll make arrangements for a cot. Only you. Your uncle will be allowed in for 30 minute intervals only. If Sam needs tests or further treatment you'll both have to leave the room. I can't allow anyone, even brothers, to disrupt the treatment of one of my patients."

"Thanks." A knock sounded on the door and the doc looked up.

"Yes."

The small woman from before came in. "I though you'd want to know they've got him settled in his room now. He's stable. Room 220."

"Thanks, Katie. Shall we go see Sam?"

"Please." Dean said, following the doctor from the room. She led the way down the corridor to the elevator. They went down to the second floor. She led the way into the room to find another nurse taking Sam's vitals. The nurse wrote something on the chart and handed it to the doctor. She looked at it and signed off.

"Thank you." Jenny said. She turned to Dean and Bobby. "He's stable but still unresponsive. I'll stop back by in a couple hours." She patted Dean on the arm and left. Dean was too stunned by Sam's appearance to respond.

Sam lay flat on his back on a bed surround by machinery. His face was pale and covered in spots with bandages. His head was wrapped in gauze covering the wound at the back. His eyes were surrounded by nearly black, bruised, swollen flesh and his nose was bruised. A vent tube stuck out of his mouth and was taped in place. The soft whoosh click closely followed the start of an inhale as Sam triggered the ventilator's operation. His left arm was encased in a blue and white padded sling with a wide strap that circled his back and held the arm bent at the elbow across his chest. Dean could see white bandages on Sam's torso, cushioning and supporting the broken ribs that had been operated on. The sling left an open area at Sam's shoulder where more gauze showed stark white against his skin. There was a small spot of red in the center of the gauze. He also had bandages around both wrists, both stained with a small amount of red.

"Sammy." Dean whispered as he moved to the bed. He leaned over his brother and laid a gentle hand on part of his forehead not covered by bandages. His thumb moved in soothing circles over Sam's skin. He reached for Sam's right hand and took it in a strong grip, hooking a foot in the chair that sat near the bed. He pulled it close so he wouldn't have to let go of Sam and sat. "God, Sammy. Doc says you've been through hell. I know you though; you're nothing if not a fighter." Dean raised Sam's hand to his face and held it against his cheek. "Sammy, she said you had a stroke. She said she doesn't know how bad, won't until you wake up. You gotta wake up. Please Sammy."

Bobby stepped up behind Dean and clasped his shoulder. "I'm gonna go see if I can find Josh. If he's awake, he's gonna wanna know about Sam."

"Okay." Dean said, never taking his eyes off Sam. Bobby moved across the room and reached for the door. "Hey Bobby?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Tell Josh that this wasn't his fault. I don't blame him."

Bobby headed down the hall and stopped at a Nurses' station. He started to ask about his friend when a commotion coming from just down the hall caught his attention. _ Joshua. That stubborn bastard._ Bobby walked past the startled nurse that fled the room to find Joshua struggling into his jeans with one arm in a sling.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doin?"

"Bobby?" Joshua looked at the man belonging to the voice. "Oh god. How's Sammy?" Bobby rushed forward when he saw the color drain from Joshua's face as everything came back to him. He helped Joshua sit down on the bed.

"Not too good, Josh. Dean's with 'im now."

"Bobby, that thing inside me…."

"It's gone. 's why you're here. Dean shot you in the shoulder with the Colt when ya changed. Was enough to kill the demon and not you."

"It made me hurt that boy. I hurt him. It made me watch Bobby. I broke his ribs, his nose. I helped that black-eyed sonofabitch strap him to that table and do god knows what to that kid. I watched that mother… I watched him laugh as Sam screamed, as he seized. I watched that bastard take Sam's life, his control from him. Sam screamed and stuff started floatin' around the room. Sam started bleeding…. his eyes, his nose…." Joshua put his good hand to his head and sagged on the bed. "Damnit Bobby I can still hear his screams, his cries. He begged me to help him, begged me to fight that thing inside me. I let him down. I let that damn demon hurt a boy that I love like a son. I didn't stop it."

"Damnit, Josh. Will you shut the hell up and let me get a word in edgewise? You listen to me. You _couldn't _have stopped that freakin' demon from doin what it did. Ruby wasn't even sure she could stop it till she did. Dean doesn't blame you. He told me to tell you that. Sam won't blame you either. He knows what it was like. The loss of control. Hell, even if he didn't he wouldn't blame you. None of us do Josh. Now, do you wanna go see those boys?"

"No Bobby. I can't. Not yet."

"Okay. How 'bout we give Dean some time with Sam then and get you released. We'll go get some coffee."

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Dean stopped talking to Sam as an orderly came in with a folding cot and placed it in the corner of the room. Dean just looked at the man as he gave that trained, fake, sympathetic smile before backing out of the room. Dean just watched him go silently and turned his attention back to his still brother on the bed.

"Hey, you remember that hunt in Alabama? The poltergeist that decided to use me for a battering ram? It threw me through that door and into the basement of the house it was haunting. Hurt like a bitch. You came down the stairs, practically tripping over feet that were too big, and you shot that mother right between the eyes. You saved me Sammy. We found out what the hell made that thing haunt that house and we stopped it. No help from dad or anyone else. Just the two of us. That's all we have. Just us. You gotta come back to me Sammy." Dean choked on a sob. "Yes I'm being selfish, damnit. I know I am. But I know it can never be just me. I can't let it be just me, little brother. I'm nothing if it's just me. Please Sammy." Dean laid Sam's hand back on the thin coverlet and put his own back over top. He laid his head down on Sam's good arm above the bandage circling his wrist and let the tears flow. "Please, Sammy." He whispered amidst a sob before his eyes closed against his brother's arm.

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Sunlight was streaming through the window and making the room unbearably white when Dean felt a hand on his shoulder .He startled and sat up before his eyes shifted to his brother and memories and nightmares rushed to the surface. The small woman, the nurse from before was touching Dean's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay. Katie, right?"

"Yes. I'm here to change Sam's dressings, and give him a quick exam. He has tests after that so you may want to go home and get some rest. He'll be most of the morning for the tests. Your friend was released last night. Your uncle said he was going to take him to a motel and come back to see how Sam was."

"Thanks. You know where I can get some coffee and wait on Sam to come back from the tests?"

"There's a coffee machine on this floor near the exit but if you ask me you really can't call it coffee. Go into the lounge on the first floor. It's much better and you can relax there. I'll find your uncle when he comes back and let him know where you are."

"Will someone let me know when Sammy's back?"

"I'll find you."

"Thanks. Hey, Katie?" She stopped with her hands poised over the tray of bandages and supplies that she would use on Sam. "Why are you being so nice to us? Me and Sam?"

"I'm sorry. I heard what you said to him last night. About it just being the two of you. I know what that's like. All I have is my little sister. She's Sam's age. She's my life too."

"Yeah." Dean smiled slightly and walked out of the room. In the lounge he found coffee that was actually good and a TV mounted to the wall. He found the remote and turned it on. He stretched out in a chair and propped his feet up on an ottoman that was upholstered to match. He put his fist to his chin and cracked his neck to work the kinks out from the position he'd slept in. He held the remote up and started flicking through channels. He made two rounds through, not seeing anything of interest when he stopped on a channel. A local news broadcast was just starting. "Small town news." Dean muttered as he chuckled briefly, sipping his coffee. The camera jumped before settling on a face that had Dean sputtering and spitting the hot coffee back into his cup.

Agent Henricksen was talking to the camera.

"We have gotten word that two highly dangerous criminals are in this area and we plan on taking them into custody. This is a warning; they are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. Do not approach these individuals under any circumstances. That's all." The reporter came back in front of the camera.

The door to the lounge opened Katie stepped in. She was smiling at Dean until something coming from the TV caught her attention. Her eyes drifted to the monitor and the smile died on her face. She began backing slowly towards the door. Dean bolted from the chair and caught her about her small waist, pinning her arms to her sides, and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Katie, please. I don't wanna hurt you, but I will. Listen to me." Katie struggled with Dean and he turned his head to speak directly into her ear over her muffled cries. "Katie please? Sam and I. We're not the dangerous people that ass makes us out to be. Please… you saw me with Sam, with Bobby. How can I be the monster that he says I am? He's wrong. Sam and I, we're hunters. We help people. You gotta believe me. I need your help. Katie, please." Dean begged her. "I'm gonna let go of your mouth now. If you scream and security busts me then Sam and I are gonna be separated forever. I can't lose my brother. You of all people know how I feel; you told me yourself you do. Now it's your choice, you can scream. Or you can help me get my brother outta here and somewhere safe."

Dean let go of her mouth slowly, but kept his arm around her. He fully expected her to scream bloody murder and bring the Feds down on him and Sam in thirty seconds. She never made a sound. "Dean Winchester." She turned to face him. "You know I know your dad? That little sister I mentioned? Your dad saved her life. I owe you. Sam's back from his tests. Let's get him out of here before the Feds find him here."

Dean smiled at her and pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed quickly.

"Dean, thank god. We've got a problem."

"I know. I have help on this end. Bring your truck to the hospital. We have to get Sam out."

Katie turned from the lounge and peeked out the door. She was half looking for security to storm the lounge and arrest Dean. The hall was clear. "Come on. It's not going to be easy but Sam is well enough to move if we have to."

"Trust me, we have to."

They went back into Sam's room to find him off the ventilator and his face covered with an oxygen mask. Dean looked him over and was glad to see his color was better. "That's what I was coming to tell you. The stroke left no permanent damage. He's breathing fine and even woke for a moment in the exam room. Doc Weston was slightly worried about something though but I didn't hear what it was. She didn't seem concerned so I peeked at his chart. There was nothing listed to pay particular attention to."

"He'll be okay to move though?"

"If we do it right yes."

"We have to hurry."

Dean gave Katie some room to work. She laid Sam's bed flat and turned off the monitors before disconnecting them from Sam. She then reached for a portable oxygen tank and removed the tube connecting Sam's mask to the larger built-in tank in the room. She connected him to the small tank and placed it on the bed beside him. She reached for a sheet and draped it over Sam's still form. Dean's heart jumped at the appearance of Sam covered with a sheet. It brought back unpleasant memories and had bile rushing up his throat. Katie released the brake on Sam's bed and reached again for something. She handed Dean a set of scrubs and a lab coat. "Here, go put these on in the bathroom quick. We'll be taking Sam to the morgue, Doctor."

Dean quickly changed and tucked his clothes under the sheets with Sam. He touched Sam's forehead. "You be okay." He said before covering him back up and pulling a mask up over his face. He went to the door and looked out. The nurses were away from the station and no foot traffic was visible in the halls. "All clear." Katie and Dean wheeled Sam's bed out into the hall and quickly down the corridor to the service elevator at the end. Dean pushed the button several times and waited for it to come to the floor impatiently. The elevator gave a "ding" and the doors slid open. It was empty. The quickly wheeled Sam into it and closed the doors. Katie hit the down button and they went to the basement.

Dean's cell phone rang; the classic rock tone loud in the elevator. Dean's pounding heart was louder. "Bobby?"

"I'm out front. Where the hell are you? Who's the help?"

"Katie. We're gonna meet you at the exterior door to the morgue. Pull the truck around."

"The morgue?! What the hell Dean? What guilt trip did you lay on the girl to force her to help?"

"Just pull the damn truck around Bobby. Two minutes."

Dean and Katie wheeled Sam through the corridor and to the door. Katie opened one and saw a rusty blue Ford pull around. She smiled and looked at Dean. "This is gonna work. That is exactly the kind of truck Mark has."

"Mark?"

"The Janitor. No one will look twice." They wheeled Sam outside and Bobby stayed behind the wheel, keeping the truck running. Dean reached for Sam and gently as possible lifted him from the hospital bed. Katie pulled the mattress quickly and laid it in the back of the truck. "I'm just glad it's not cold outside."

Dean put Sam down on the mattress and crawled up into the bed of the truck with him. He never stirred. "C'mon Sammy. Need you to wake up now little brother."

"Here, Dean." Bobby said as he handed Dean a blanket from the cab of the truck. Dean covered Sam up to his chin with the soft blanket.

"Thanks Bobby."

"Here girl. Put this over them and get in the cab. Your career as a nurse is officially over." He handed her a blue plastic tarp and without hesitation she covered Sam and Dean with the tarp. She climbed into the cab and ducked so no one could see her. Bobby pulled his cap low and pulled slowly out of the parking lot with the tarp covered load of 'trash'. Bobby pulled his phone and called Dean in the back of the truck. "I hid your car good. Freakin' Fed'll never find it. Where are we goin?" Bobby asked Dean over the phone, only to have the girl answer instead.

"My place." Katie said. "I have everything there to take care of Sam. We have to get it and go somewhere else. I own the safe house John took me and my sister to when he saved us from our possessed father. It is a little run down, but still empty. No one besides Tamera and I know where it is."

**A/N: There's that one. Hope you enjoyed the twist and remember, Reviews make me give away cookies! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:Just got word that things aren't going to work out for me to post Wednesday so I'm giving you all a special treat with a third chapter today! That lets me post last two before work tomorrow. Sorry, but you're not going to like me very much after this! **

**Chapter 9**

They had pulled into the safe house some forty minutes later, after a quick stop by Katie's house to get everything she needed to help Sam. Bobby killed the engine of the truck and got out. He pulled the tarp off of the back of his truck and found Dean sitting with Sam in his arms. Sam was still unconscious. Dean blinked at the change in lighting and looked at Katie. "I'm sorry about your career."

"It's not over yet. I have a plan. Sam is what's important now. We need to get him settled and make sure he's stable again." They took him inside the slightly run down house to find it nice inside and clean. "I bought the property after I got my job and saved some money. I can't do everything but I keep it fixed up. I like to come here when the job gets to be too much or I miss Tamera, my sister. She's away at college. This is where your dad brought us when he saved us Dean. There's a bedroom through this door," she said as she pushed it open, "we can put Sam in here." They soon had him settled and Katie looked him over. Dean paced behind her. "Don't worry; he came through this little adventure okay."

"You said he woke up for a minute while they examined him. Why isn't he awake yet? Why didn't he wake up before? We put him through hell to get him here."

"He only woke long enough to blink. He looked around and went back under. He was and still is strung out from pain meds. He just had pretty major surgery. The meds are really strong. Give him some time." Katie glanced at her watch. "I have to get back. I can save my career and still help you. Bobby, if you can give me a ride back?"

"Sure." Bobby looked at Dean as if to ask _You really trust her?_ Dean nodded.

"I'll see you after six." She handed him a slip of paper. "My pager number. If something changes call me. I'll get here as soon as I can."

Bobby left with her to take her back to the hospital. It was swarming with cops. Bobby refused to take her up to the door, instead, letting her walk the block to the doors. She promised to get all the information she could on what was going on. She walked briskly back to the doors and went inside like nothing was amiss. Bobby shook his head in admiration. "John, when someone owes you a debt they repay in spades. That little girl has one hell of a head on her shoulders." Bobby headed back to the house and the guys he considered sons.

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When Bobby had left with Katie, Dean had sat down on the edge of the comfortable bed where Sam lay. "Hey, kid. Katie told me you woke up in the hospital. Can you do it again?" Dean reached for Sam's good hand and held it in one of his. He reached out with the other and ran his thumb over Sam's bandaged forehead. "Hey Sammy. C'mon little brother. Please snap outta this. I know that damn demon did all kinds of awful things to you. God only knows how much you went through right now, but I'm hoping you'll trust me to help. Please little brother. Come back. I need ya back. Please Sammy; just trust me to help you through this."

Sam's brow furrowed and Dean looked on, tears gathering in his green eyes. "That's it Sam. C'mon, you can do it." Sam made a small noise and moved his hand in Dean's. Dean gripped Sam's hand tighter, squeezing reassuringly. He smoothed the wrinkles out of Sam's brow with his thumb again. "Sammy?"

"Mmnn, De-an" Sam said, his eyes opening to slits before closing again. He stilled.

"No Sammy, c'mon." Dean begged softly, squeezing his hand. Sam sank back into the comfort of sleep.

Bobby returned to the out of the way cabin and walked inside. He had stopped and gotten some food on the return trip. "Hey Dean?"

Dean turned from where Sam still lay unmoving on the bed. "Yeah."

"Brought some food back. You need to eat. It's not gonna do Sam any good if you're not takin' care of yourself too."

"Yeah, you're right." Dean came over and grabbed a piece of pizza from the box that now rested on the small table in the room next to Sam's. He smiled sadly and breathed a bemused laugh.

"What?"

"This whole thing. It's just too freakin' familiar, you know?"

"Sam's gonna be okay this time. Without you doin' anything but bein' there for him."

"Yeah. I get that this time." Dean shook his head. "Y'know we haven't even had time to celebrate. Three days, I've been free for three days and we haven't even left this state yet. Hell, I haven't even had a beer."

"I never knew what you see in the stuff." Ruby said as she walked into the room. Dean had jumped and pulled the Colt before he realized it was her.

"Put that thing back in your pants. I thought you trusted me now?" Dean put the gun back in his waistband.

"Damnit Ruby, one of these days I'm gonna shoot your ass just on principle for trying to give me a heart attack."

"How's he doin?" Ruby asked as she came to the table and grabbed a piece of pizza, breaking a string of hot cheese as it stretched from the box to the slice in her hand. She put it back on the piece of pizza and took a bite. "Damn that's good."

"He's sleeping. Still pretty out of it. He woke once in the hospital and once here for probably a grand total of thirty seconds. How did you find us anyhow?"

"I can find you anywhere."

A thump sounded out in the bedroom followed closely by Sam's agonized scream.

**A/N: I know. You hate me! Please review anyway and I promise last chapters up before lunch time tomorrow!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks go out on this one to twinchoasblade and Psylocke23 for your amazing reviews. You people are much loved by me right now. You've made my day! Because of work this evening and the inability to post tomorrow, here's the rest of this story. Hope you'll all enjoy and drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you! **

**Chapter 10**

"Sammy!" Dean dropped his pizza to the floor and the three of them sprinted for the bedroom where Sam was resting. The bed was empty. "Sam?" Dean looked around the room to find Sam huddled in a corner just off the tiny bathroom. He had his good arm wrapped around his drawn up, hospital pajama clad knees and was wheezing audibly. Dean approached him slowly. His face was covered by his hair and nearly pressed into his knees. "C'mon Sammy. It's okay. Need to get you back on the bed. You're gonna pull your stitches."

Sam huddled tighter, shying away from Dean. His immobilized arm was now pinched between his bare chest and his knees, blood beginning to seep through the previously white gauze at his shoulder. "Stay away." He whispered. "Dean don' wanna… hurt you. Stay away."

Dean reached again and Sam flinched further, moaning a little in pain. He became pale. "C'mon Sammy, you're not gonna hurt me. C'mon, you're bleedin', let me help. Katie's not gonna be back for a few hours. Let me help."

"Dean." Ruby warned quietly. Dean ignored her.

"Sammy, let me help you. I don't know why you think you're gonna hurt me. I don't know what the hell that demon has made you think, but he lied. You'd never hurt anyone Sammy."

"Dean." Ruby tried again. Sam reached his good hand up to his shoulder, where the blood had seeped through the gauze. His fingertips came away red. He gasped.

"On my hands." He whispered brokenly.

"What, Sammy? Yeah, you're bleedin' a little bit. Let's get you cleaned up."

"On my hands. It's on my hands. On my hands."

"Okay, it's okay. Let me wipe it off." Dean reached for his handkerchief and Sam's bloody hand.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Sam screamed. A burst of energy came from the mentally disturbed young man and caught Dean full force, propelling him backwards into the wall. He fell to the floor in a cloud of drywall dust, pinned there by the force that held him in its grasp. He grunted in pain and Ruby rushed to him.

"I tried to tell you something's not right here."

"Shut up Ruby." Dean grunted and looked past her as something caught his eye. He looked about in amazement as things that had decorated the room were now floating in lazy circles about the room. Sam pushed himself upright and was leaning against the wall. His eyes were wild and roaming about, his hair still obscuring them from Dean's view. Bobby tried walking slowly up to Sam, his hands raised to show he meant no harm.

"Sam. It's okay. It's me, Bobby. You're safe with us. Dean's here, Ruby too. Let us help you Sam. You need to relax. You've been hurt pretty bad kid. You need rest. Just let us help you."

"Bobby?" Sam looked at the older hunter, confused. "Bobby?"

"Yeah, kid. It's me. We're here to help ya." Bobby had nearly touched Sam's shoulder; literally within inches of getting Sam to calm down. Sam shrank back from the touch.

"NO! Joshua said he was there to help me too. He hurt me. You're here to hurt me. It's a trick! STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Sam raised his head as the three looked on. The breeze that had arisen seemingly out of nowhere blew the hair out of his frantic features.

"No!" Dean cried out. "NO!" He stared on in horror at Sam, his nightmare rushing to the forefront of his mind with enough force to shatter his control. Dean's eyes flooded with tears he was unable to stop. Sam's eyes were that nightmare shade of yellow.

Another invisible blast radiated from Sam and forced Bobby to the floor. He landed with a grunt and was propelled backwards to land next to Dean at the base of the wall. Sam slid back down the wall he leaned heavily against, too weak to stand. The objects still floating around the room gained speed as Sam curled in on himself. He pulled his frame into an impossibly tiny ball and began rocking back and forth. The floating things swirled, gaining speed with the energy that seemed to pulse in the room. Ruby stepped forward, walking up to Sam, dodging the objects that flew at her. Sam raised his head and she allowed her power to surface, turning her eyes black. He gaped at her openly, still shaking and rocking, with his good arm wrapped around his legs, holding them in a crushing position against his hurt arm and broken ribs. He wheezed. She knelt down before him and the floating objects continued to swirl in the air even as he fixed his terrified gaze on her.

"Aindri?" He whispered. She knelt close to him and put one hand soothingly on his good arm. The other hand reached into her pocket. She withdrew something from her pocket that Dean recognized.

"Ruby." Dean warned quietly. He felt the force holding him lessen and he pulled the Colt and leveled it at her back. "Do it and that'll be the last thing you do." Sam's attention shifted from the brother he knew he was destined to hurt, to the black eyes of the woman in front of him that meant something to him now. He saw the gun, that gun, leveled at her back and panic surged through him. He flinched and the gun was ripped by an unseen force from Dean's hand. Dean cried out in pain. Sam turned confused yellow eyes back to Ruby.

"Aindri? Why are we here? What is going on? I though we were finally able to rest." Ruby took Sam into her arms and held him, tears gathering as he curled into her and held her tight about the waist with his good arm like a small child would after a nightmare.

"Yes, Akshay, I told you we were finally able to rest. I have something to do here now though. But you need to rest. It's time for you to rest. Leave Sam Winchester in peace, brother. You can't stay inside him. He can't handle the things that happen to him. Others are using you to hurt him. You can't let that happen."

"No, I can't allow myself to be used to hurt someone. I did that too often so long ago."

Ruby touched the crystal to Sam's chest. His body arched in her arms and he cried out. She sobbed as she watched something akin to lightening course through Sam's body from the crystal. "You need to leave him now. He's only safe if you rest." Sam's body jerked as the crystal pulsed with light and changed colors in her hand. The light shone from between her fingers, pulsing red, then black, and then turning yellow. It grew dark. Sam stilled and sagged against her, out cold. She pulled the crystal from his chest and pocketed it. The objects crashed to the floor, many things breaking as they hit. Ruby lifted Sam's head from where it had lolled over his arm and held his forehead against her own. "I'm sorry I put you through this Sam. I couldn't lose him again. I should have known someone would use him against me. And you."

Dean and Bobby were released from the walls completely and Dean made his way over the debris on the floor to kneel beside his brother and the person he had no hope of ever understanding. "What did you do?"

Ruby looked up with tear filled eyes. "He's just Sam now. Before, I…I suppressed my brother's essence inside Sam but I didn't remove it. I couldn't bear to lose him again. I had hoped that Sam would embrace him and they would become one. I never… never meant for someone to use him against Sam to destroy him. I should have known. I'm so sorry, Dean." Ruby shifted unconscious Sam in her arms and handed him to Dean. "He's gone now. Sam is just Sam now. You have your brother back, free and clear." She fell silent and turned from the scene.

Sam stirred in Dean's arms and he looked from Ruby to his brother when he felt the movement. "Sammy?"

"D-dean?" Sam whispered. His eyes flickered but didn't open.

"C'mon Sammy, you can do it. Wake up." Sam's eyes opened. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. "Sammy." Pain glazed hazel orbs blinked up at Dean. Dean looked up to thank Ruby for giving him his Sammy back. She was gone.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Last chapter up next. Please review.  
**


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

Katie returned an hour after everything happened. Dean had cleaned Sam's wounds and redressed them, giving him a shot of Morphine for the pain he was in. He was dozing on the bed and Bobby had cleaned up the mess Sam's uncontrollable telekinesis had caused. Katie had given them the heads up that the feds had been called back to Washington yet again because of lack of results in the case. Henricksen was pissed. Katie still had her job and all was right with the world. A knock sounded on the door. Katie stilled and glanced at the door, a look of fear crossing her face.

Dean and Bobby quickly went into the bedroom where Sam was resting and shut the door. Dean moved to the bed and held Sam, fear streaking through him at scenarios that played through his head. He didn't know what to think. Katie had told him that no one else knew of the house._ The feds followed her. The freakin' Feds. They're not taking him from me without a fight!_

Another female voice rang out in the room with Katie. "Dean, I know you and Sam are here. You might as well come out."

_Doctor Weston._ "Oh crap." Dean muttered. He left the room and Bobby moved to the bed to sit with Sam. Dean rounded the corner and stood in the doorway, one hand braced on each side of the frame as if he could bar her from getting near his brother. "Hey Doc."

"Where is he?" She was standing in the living room of the rundown house in her black slacks, light purple blouse, black shoes and white lab coat, looking extremely out of place. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and nudged the black bag at her feet. "If you're going to leave town his doctor has to give him a clean bill of health."

**A/N: I know this chapter was a short one and left open ended. I have my reasons. I have been challenged by a good friend to write a fic that takes me way out of my comfort zone. I intend to do that one and then come back to this story line with something else I've never done. You'll hear from me again as I make Joshua and Sam face each other for the first time after Joshua's possession and the things he did to Sam. More angst to come soon. Promise! **


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